Inspiring Conversations with Barbie Hessel of Simply Being Therapy and Simply Be Well

Hi Barbie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
After moving to Nashville close to 13 years ago and working as an adjunct professor at Belmont University and Aquinas College, I made a very significant life transition. I chose to leave the world of education behind me—a professional landscape I had dedicated myself to for close to 20 years. I felt grateful and humbled to have the opportunity to return to school at the University of Tennessee.

I say “humbled” because I had accomplished a great deal professionally, including earning an MS in Education and a doctoral degree in which my focus was accessing Voice and Self-authorization in adolescent girls—I had worked with staff development at the Montgomery County Public School district in Washington, DC and had been an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University and American University. It was such a huge transition to find myself back at university pursuing another graduate degree at the age of 36. I studied social work with a focus on trauma treatment and worked at the Sexual Assault Center in Nashville.

I then decided to take another leap and opened my own private practice, Simply Being Therapy, in Berry Hill. This practice has grown to include five practitioners, including interns, and has earned the trust and respect of clients throughout the greater Nashville area. We focus on trauma, anxiety, chronic stress, and depression. Our practice is special, in that we offer Somatic psychotherapy (mind and body connection practices) and practice mind and body connection. Our practice offers individual and couples therapy, as well as providing therapeutic groups for clients and community wellness events, including clinical sound healing, tea ceremonies, and group hypnosis.

At Simply Being, we work with clients and greatly consider the context of their lives. For this reason, we value social connection and find varied ways to engage the community. Most recently, we branched out and I co-founded Simply Be Well, a Sensory Wellness Brand focused on offering resources to help customers regulate their nervous systems through the use of the senses.

We have curated wellness products that tap into the knowledge of the body for healing. Some of our customer favorites include our aromatherapy inhalers, a collaboration with Madison & Green, an east coast brand, our signature tea blend (Simply Tea), and our Glimmer journal (Simply Shine).

We are so grateful to continue having opportunities to have a greater impact on our community in Nashville.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I was born in Miami, Fl, and am the daughter of Cuban immigrants and a first-generation college graduate. I have worked tirelessly to achieve professional goals including earning two master’s degrees and a doctoral degree.

I made a drastic career change in my mid-thirties and now own a private group practice and wellness brand. It has not been easy, but it has been worth it.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Simply Being Therapy and Simply Be Well?
We are a private somatic psychotherapy practice in Berry Hill, and our team includes 4 therapists and an intern. We work with clients struggling with trauma, anxiety, chronic stress, and depression…helping them learn to regulate their nervous systems and find ease. We offer trauma-informed modalities such as EMDR, Somatic Experiencing, IFS, therapeutic yoga, mindfulness and more.

We Practice from an attachment healing perspective and incorporate Jungian Psychology, as well as holistic offerings such as Sound Healing and Reiki. We also offer groups, workshops, and community events. We recently launched, Simply Be Well. I co-founded this brand with Christi Sidwell and we focus on curating wellness products that help clients access their senses for healing.

Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
Some of our therapists are currently accepting new clients. You can reach us at simplyask@simplybeingtherapy.com or check us out online at simplybeingtherapy.com and simplybewellshop.com. We also offer corporate wellness programs, so email me if you are interested in having us work with your staff/teams or leaders.

We are always looking to collaborate with other folks in the wellness and mental health industries. We are, most recently, learning more about the use of psychedelic psychotherapy, particularly for the treatment of trauma, and currently offer integration sessions for clients who have undergone psychedelic treatments. We hope to be offering Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy in the winter of 2023.

Pricing:

Contact Info:

• Website: www.SimplyBeingTherapy.com
• Instagram: @simplybeingtherapy and @simplybewellshop
• Facebook: @simplybeingtherapy
• Linkedin: Barbie Hessel